Cheating Vermeer

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Visitors examine a painting in a Vermeer exhibition

A brush with romanticism

Escape into the world of Romantic artwork, and explore the drama and heroism of romantic paintings.

And this is me...

Can we trust artists to be impartial when portraying themselves, and if not, what do self portraits tell us?

Did the ‘Camera Obscura’ have a role in helping Johannes Vermeer create his fantastic works of art?

Professor Martin Kemp, art historian at Oxford University, believes that paintings such as The Lacemaker show features that look very similar to what you would expect to see through the poor quality lens that would have been in use at the time. An example is seen in the highlights that are out of focus where they blur into ‘circles of confusion’.

Jason Brooks is an artist whose own work imitates photography. His view is that Vermeer probably did use a Camera Obscura because his paintings show qualities such as diffused highlights and the perspective.

However, Alex Ruger of the National Gallery disagrees with the notion that Vermeer copied an image produced by a Camera Obscura in his studio. He thinks that whilst Johannes may well have been inspired by the properties of images produced by the camera obscura, he was an artist who had both the talent and ability to work from his imagination.

Listen to Caryn Franklin’s views on Vermeer’s paintings:

Do you think that Vermeer used a camera obscura?

Does this make him a cheat?

What do you make of the controversy?

What did you discover making the film?

Audio help
If you have trouble playing Caryl's responses, you may need to install the latest version of Quicktime. It's a free download.

Regardless of whether Johannes Vermeer used the Camera Obscura it is without doubt that his works are inspirational. The National Gallery in London held an exhibition entitled ‘Vermeer and the Delft school’ in 2001, featuring thirteen paintings by the great man himself accompanied by works by other notable Delft artists, such as De Hooch, Gerard Houckgeest and Leonaert Bramer. The National Gallery has the two paintings as part of its own collection.

Other paintings by Vermeer are held by the National Gallery of Scotland, Kenwood, Hampstead and Buckingham Palace. There are a number of Camera Obscuras around the country, many of which are open to the public.

The National Museum of Photography, Film and Television

The National Gallery, Trafalgar Square, London

The Iveagh Bequest - Kenwood, Hampstead Lane, Hampstead, London. Tel: 020 8348 1286

Buckingham Palace

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